THE declaration of emergency, its ordinances and the economic effects the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the country should take precedence over any other matters when Parliament convenes, said lawmakers.

They said the need was made more acute because the government had set the next session of Parliament to just five days.

The emergency and subsequent ordinances must be tabled and debated by MPs, said Umno secretary-general and Pontian MP Ahmad Maslan, after the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed the Dewan Rakyat will convene on July 26.

Ahmad felt the house should debate the emergency and demanded extra days to be added to the schedule to facilitate meetings.

“The ordinance should not just be laid on the table, it must be debated. Furthermore, there are many issues to debate. How can they allow only five days?”

“At least we need 20 days to discuss Covid-19 and the 12th Malaysia Plan,” he said in a tweet.

Ahmad said the government must allow face to face Parliament meetings as all MPs and staff have been vaccinated.

“I’m not against amending Parliament’s standing orders to allow for hybrid sittings but that should not take precedence over the emergency and the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Mahfuz Omar (Pokok Sena-PH).

“We can amend the standing orders to allow for future meetings but the most urgent issue now is the emergency, which ends on August 1,” said the Amanah vice president.

Sim Tze Tzin (Bayan Baru-PH) also believes that amending the standing orders to allow for hybrid meetings is not as urgent as debating the emergency.

“As it is, we are already the first group to have achieved herd immunity with all the MPs, senators and Parliament staff vaccinated. 

“So, why rush this hybrid idea when there are only five days for more than 200 MPs to voice voters’ concerns?”

Sim, who is the former agriculture deputy minister, said the more urgent issue is to come up with new ideas on how to help Malaysians who have suffered effects of Covid-19 for 18 months.

“During this period, many have lost their incomes, have resorted to borrowing from loan sharks and even committed suicide. Isn’t it more important to talk about how to help them recover rather than whether we should have hybrid meetings?” said the PKR leader.

Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin said that preparing for hybrid meetings is good but untimely.

“It’s the right thing for the wrong time as there are more urgent issues to look at. I can accept amending the standing orders for future hybrid sessions, but for now it’s not pertinent.”

Chan repeated the point about Parliament staff and lawmakers being among the first to achieve herd immunity and therefore it’s not a priority to debate this now.

“More urgent is how to help Sabahans who have suffered so much from the pandemic and the lockdowns,” said the DAP leader.

Following Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah’s second decree last week, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a statement today that Dewan Rakyat will meet for five days starting July 26, while the Dewan Negara will meet from August 3 to 5.

The statement, issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, said that the meeting will focus on amending the standing orders to allow hybrid meetings and debate the emergency and its ordinances. 

Article 150 (3) of the federal constitution states that the emergency and its ordinances must be approved by both houses of Parliament.

Debate not briefing

However, while the government will be asked to justify the emergency, which was put in place on January 11, Mahfuz has questioned the government’s sincerity in the timing of the meeting.

“According to PMO, Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara will sit from July 26-29 and August 3-5 respectively. In its statement, Parliament is expected to debate the emergency.

“What is the point for Dewan Negara to debate the emergency when it ends on August 1? Is this a mockery of the process?” said Mahfuz.

He said that this is why the King last month had asked for Parliament to meet as soon as possible.

“Parliament wouldn’t be rushed if the government had acted when the king spoke last month,” said the former deputy human resources minister.

Former agriculture minister Salahuddin Ayub also questioned the number of days allocated to Dewan Rakyat as this was the first opportunity for MPs to question the government.

“It may have passed the emergency, but we can still ask them what they have done ministry by ministry, but it is not sufficient with just five days,” said the Pulai MP.

PKR leaders Chang Lih Kang (Tg Malim) and Noor Amin Ahmad (Kangar) also said five days were insufficient.

“Due to the emergency, we’ve not met this year and I hope the meetings can be longer so that we can discuss all the measures that have been employed for the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Noor Amin.

“Of course, for me, I have to even know if the emergency is justified in the first place.”

Chang said the five-day meeting is a mockery of Parliament. 

“We want the government to report on what it has done and justify the emergency. We don’t want to come for a briefing,” said Chang.

Three-term Klang MP Charles Santiago said the sitting was a joke.

“I think the government just wants to explain the packages it has announced. We don’t want a briefing. What we want is a full debate on what it has done or not done,” said Santiago, who believes the government is intentionally limiting the number of Parliament days to avoid being embarrassed. 

At two of last year’s meetings, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and more than 40 MPs tabled no-confidence motions against Muhyiddin.

However, the motions were not debated as Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun said that government business preceded private members’ bills. – July 5, 2021.